Messages on our 20th Anniversary
19/03/2010
Some of the kind words said about us at our 20th anniversary party in London at the Law Society on March 18th, 2010. (photos and video to come) There were speeches from the Deputy Vice President of the Law Society, David Blunkett MP (former Home Secretary), and Nick Clegg MP (leader of the Liberal Democrat Party) and the additional telegrams and messages were read by the MC, Michael Peel, the Legal Correspondent for the Financial Times.
From Professor Noam Chomsky
"With the ominous drift towards a surveillance society, not least in Britain, and the undermining of privacy through exploitation of the internet, the work of Privacy International is becoming even more crucial than it has been in the past. Congratulations on your past achievements, and hopes that they will provide a firm basis for the even more challenging tasks that lie ahead."
Professor of Linguistics and Privacy International Advisory Board member
From Former Congressman Bob Barr
"1990 was a short 20 years ago; but in terms of the power of governments to snoop on people, places and things, it might as well be centuries ago and light years away. The threats to privacy today are so much more acute and multi-faceted than two decades ago, that it is hard to imagine life without pervasive government surveillance, multiple databases, and numerous watch lists.
The one bit of good news in all this is Privacy International, which celebrates its 20th anniversary today. It is indeed comforting to know that without Privacy International’s 20 years of hard and selfless work in behalf of the fundamental human right to the privacy of one’s person, communications, ideas and property, all of us would be much worse off than we are. Privacy International has fought the good fight in behalf of privacy liberty for 20 years, and I join in wishing it well for the next 20."
Former U.S. Presidential Candidate for the Libertarian Party and Advisory Board member
Speech of John Wotton, Deputy Vice President of the Law Society of England and Wales
"On behalf of everyone at the Law Society, I’d like to wish you all a very warm welcome to Privacy International’s 20th birthday celebration.
Over the last 20 years, PI has done more than any other organisation to place the threat to personal privacy in the public consciousness.
From small beginnings, PI has drawn together a disparate coalition of lonely voices from around the world, building a global chorus against excessive intrusion of privacy in all its forms.
Today it stands tall as a bulwark against the restriction of personal privacy across the globe - not just in Britain but wherever a government over-extends the arms of the state, or a corporation abuses the trust of those whose data it is bound to protect.
Many of those once lonely voices are with us here tonight, alongside many eminent names from politics and across party lines, from the professions and the private sector, and from the many supporters and even one-time opponents of the work that PI has so assiduously undertaken. It is a testament to a job well done.
The Law Society is very proud to be associated with PI.
As the representative body of solicitors in England and Wales, the Society is committed to defending the rights of all men and women guaranteed by the rule of law – and privacy is unquestionably as much a human right as it is a value - an obligation, not an ambition.
It is also a fiendishly complicated and a fiercely contended subject area.
For the past year, the Society has contributed to the ongoing debate by focussing on a wide range of issues around the rule of law and how to defend it for future generations.
The next stage of that work is about to begin, and over the next four months we will be staging a series of exploratory seminars on the nature, the limits and the consequences of surveillance in all its forms.
It almost goes without saying that the first group that the Society approached to join us in that endeavour was Privacy International, whose expertise and insight on the subject will provide an essential springboard as we unpick that particular tangled web.
Tonight though is PI’s night, and we have a great programme ahead of us.
It is only for me to wish you all a very enjoyable evening and to bid Privacy International a very happy birthday."
Related:
About Privacy International
About PI - Principal Office Holders and Staff
About PI - International Advisory Board
About Supporting PI
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